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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Mama's Fish House. When my friends mentioned going there, by the name of it, I seriously thought it was a local, casual, even hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant (must be the "Mama's" part..I don't know). Wow, was I ever wrong! When I went to their website, I noticed that not only did they take OpenTable reservations, they also had printable PDF menus. Mama's Fish House is also associated with "Inn at Mama's" which has beachfront cottages and garden cottages. Impressive and totally unexpected. Well, on my part anyway.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

After a day on the beach yesterday, we headed back to the condo. While my friends went shopping in Lahaina afterwards I decided to stay back and take it easy. I also took on the responsibility of finding a place to eat for dinner.

Monday, March 26, 2012

I'm in Maui! First thing my friends and I did once we got off the plane was visit Geste Shrimp truck, a very popular food truck located about 10 minutes away from the Kahului airport on Kahului Beach Road.

My friend Cindy and I shared the Hot & Spicy ($12) and my other two friends shared the Spicy Pineapple ($12). Both came with a dozen shrimps, crab mac salad & rice. Now that I look at the menu again I think I should have gotten the "Combo Plate"...only $2 more but with a hot dog too!

Honestly, $12 with a crab mac & cheese and rice? That's literally less than $1 for some of the freshest shrimps in the world! Amazing.

Shown below is the Hot & Spicy (Spicy Pineapple looks exactly the same but with tiny pieces of pineapple in it). Best.Shrimps.Ever!!! They were all extremely plump, tender and fresh...literally finger lickin' good! Prepare to get your hands dirty though because they have their shells on. We all liked the Hot & Spicy more than the Spicy Pineapple (that is, if we had to choose). The crab salad was also fantastic; it had big pieces of crab meat and cleansed our palette between bites of spicy shrimps.

Google "Geste Shrimp Truck" and you will see all their stellar reviews on Yelp.

We are already thinking of going back to Geste Shrimp before we leave for the airport and try their Hawaiian Scampi or Lemon Pepper (and possibly the hot dog too).

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I'm a big fan of Acadia (@AcadiaToronto). I've been there for their regular menu, their tasting menu and have also dropped by several times for cocktails and appetizers at the bar. It doesn't help that Fuel House (@FuelHouseTO), my second home, is literally right across the street. But to tell you the truth, I fell in love with Acadia's shrimp & grits ever since day one and have cravings for them every now and then. Same with their corn bread...love those too.

Anyway, when chef Matt Blondin (@chefmattblondin) tweeted about a 7-course tasting menu for $39 about a month ago, I seriously thought he was joking. You know, him just messing around on twitter. Seven courses? For $39? AtACADIA? NO WAY. NOT POSSIBLE. Although the Asian in me really wanted to believe it, my brain told me it was simply too good to be true.

So meh, I was wrong. For two-nights only, the $39 7-course tasting dinner actually happened and both dinners were completely sold out.

I'm sure you have seen pictures of some of the night's dishes, if not all, on Twitter already. But like it or not...here they are again!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Chantecler (@ChanteclerTO), located on 1320 Queen St. W., is yet another new addition to the progressively popular Parkdale neighbourhood. Co-owners chef Jonathan Poon (formerly Woodlot, Delux, Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner) and front-of-house manager Jacob Wharton-Shukster (formerly Origin, Buca, Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner) teamed up to bring Asian-Canadian fusion cuisine to the city.

The restaurant, Chantecler, is named after a chicken breed native to Canada and its name is proudly laid out in black tiles above the 1935 cast iron and enamel Moffat stove; it is fully operational (!) and chef Poon and his staff uses it as a finishing stove before plating.

Congratulations Melissa! =D Please email me at foodjunkiechronicles@gmail.com with your mailing address. I will forward your info to Purdy's Chocolates (they will be mailing you the prize). Congrats again and I hope you will enjoy all the delicious Purdy's Chocolatesfor Easter!

I also want to say a big THANKS to the 166 contestants who participated in the contest!

To ensure my followers that I am 100% honest when I say the winner is picked RANDOMLY, I will always show you guys how I went about tracking each contest. Even though my contests in the future may not be exactly the same as this one, be rest assured that I will go through the same process with due diligence.

Here's a snapshot of the Excel spreadsheet where I tracked the #purdyseaster stream from day one of the contest. The tracking was done using chronological order, as in, #1 was the first person who entered right the contest. To enter, the person has to tweet "I want to win an Easter Prize Pack from @PurdysChocolate! http://bit.ly/ysWWxk #purdyseaster". Once the contest was over and everybody's entries were accounted for in my spreadsheet, I went to check if they actually followed me on Twitter (I also sent the below list of contestants to Purdy's Chocolatesfor them to look over).

After weeding out the people that did not follow bothPurdy's Chocolatesand I on Twitter, I was left with 150 contestants. I went to "True Random Number Generator" from random.org to randomly pick a winner for me from 1 to 150.

Working at Liberty Village has its pros and cons. A major pro is that it's closer to home (I live in Mississauga) compared to when I used to work near the Eaton Centre. Parking is also way cheaper at King & Dufferin versus the downtown core. The commute itself is great considering that I don't have to be stuck on the Gardiner the entire time. Pretty sweet, right? I think so =) So what are the cons then? Well one major disadvantage in my opinion with regards to working at Liberty Village is this:

There is a lack of good lunch spots!

This blogTO article gets it right. A number of restaurants have closed down in Liberty Village over the past few months such as The Liberty, Liberty Noodle, Chuck and Co, Cinquecento Trattoria, and Liberty Belle Bistro. It's quite frustrating, to say the least =( Well, we'll see how Origin goes...

Although I'm in no way contemplating nor thinking about switching jobs (I love my job), it would still be nice to work in an area with good lunch spots. A lot of people I know view this as a requirement too, especially those that do not pack lunch. And this, folks, is whereAltCareercomes in handy.

If you are currently unemployed and looking for a job or just want to browse around for opportunities, you should take a look at AltCareer, a new online job board that helps professionals find careers that offer more than just a paycheque (most of AltCareer's jobs listings right now are in sales, marketing, customer service or programming, but they'll be expanding that soon). Unlike other job sites, AltCareer lets you browse jobs by perks, such as WORK FROM HOME, FLEX HOURS, COMMUTER FRIENDLY, DRESS DOWN, FLEX VACATION, CHILD CARE, REWARDS & RECOGNITION, just to name a few. Andperkslike PRIME LOCATION and GOOD EATS definitely takes care of the lunch dilemma!

Friday, March 16, 2012

I was invited by Nyood (@Nyood) to try their new Saturday Brunch menu last weekend. Nyood, formerly associated with celebrity chef Roger Mooking, is now under new management with a brand new chef, Ariel Coplan. Chef Coplan, who worked under Lorenzo Loseto from George Restaurant and subsequently at Café Grey (NYC) and Number One (a Michelin-starred restaurant in Edinburgh), has returned to Toronto as an executive chef atNyood. Vittorio Colacitti (formerly George, Lucien) has also joinedNyoodas chef de cuisine and the duo will be launching a brand new menu in spring (items on Nyood's current menu has been changed slightly).

I've never been toNyoodbefore this brunch. To be honest I never associated Nyoodwith "food" but more so a club or lounge. I mean if you've ever been to their Sunday Brunch or "Le Brunch" (I haven't been to one but here's a video of it) you will know why I never took Nyoodseriously as a restaurant. Really, can you blame me? O_o Although it seems like "Le Brunch" is here to stay, I'm hoping that by bringing serious chefs on board with the addition of a no dancing, no extreme boozing and a no dress-code required regular Saturday brunch, Nyoodwill begin to appeal more to the locals...you know...regular people like you and I? I don't know about you but a tight dress with a pair of high heels will never be part of my brunch attire lol

Did you know that originally, the colour associated with St. Patrick was blue? But over the years the colour green and its association with the day grew. Greenribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration as early as the 17th century.

Shamrock, a three-leaved plant, was used to explain the Holy Trinity the pagan Irish, and wearing and displaying shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of St. Patrick's Day.

All this shamrock talk really leads to two things on this post: TheShamrockCaesar and McDonald's ShamrockMilkshake.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Now that chef Nick Liu (@Ninjachefnick) has left Niagara Street Café (check out my post on his farewell dinner at NSC) and is starting his new project, Gwai Lo (@GwaiLoToronto) with Kristina Kuypers (@deKuypers) (formerly of the Black Hoof, Splendido and the Drake Hotel), guest chef Steve Gonzalez (@latino5spice) (formerly Origin, Top Chef Canada) is now manning the kitchen at Niagara Street Café until the end of this month. I strongly suggest you go and check it out. Why? Because it is a great opportunity to preview what chef Gonzalez has to offer when he opens his own Latin restaurant and ceviche bar in Toronto (once he finds a location). And seriously, who wouldn't want to be fed ceviches, whole steamed fish, sancocho, chicharron, empanadas and other delicious Latin dishes???

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

I've been to Ursa twice now; first time for drinks at the bar with my party guru friend, Kristina from Not Your Average Party (@notyouravgparty) where we had cocktails, a bottle of Cava (hey it was a Friday night, don't judge lol) and shared two appetizers: the Hamachi and the Whitetail Tartare with Blueberry Cured Foie Gras. We both thought the appetizers were phenomenal; especially the foie gras, which had a subtle blueberry tone and was so buttery. After that night I wanted to go back to Ursa for a full meal.

Ursa serves contemporary Canadian cuisine, focusing on using modern techniques and dehydrators that preserve the nutritional value of their ingredients as much as possible. Having said that, there's still meat on Ursa's menu (albeit in smaller portions) as well as alcohol *phew* =D The cocktail I had the first time was "A Rose By Any Other Name" with Wray & Newphew Overproof Rum, Vermouth Muddled Limes, Rose Water, Golden Cane Sugar, Citrus Oil...it was delightful~

Dangling LED bulbs at Ursa. It's all about the cool lighting these days, huh?

Monday, March 5, 2012

Cowbell (@cowbellresto), located in Parkdale, is known for having a chalkboard menu that is revised daily. As their website says, doing so "not only announces the day's offerings, but gives a window onto the farms and seasons of Southern Ontario". Chef and owner Mark Cutrara (@mcutrara) is all about cooking exclusively with organic and naturally raised ingredients and serving delicious food in an unpretentious bistro. Cowbellopened in 2007 where Chef Cutrara processes whole animal carcasses, including cow, elk, deer, pig and lamb, into aged steaks and chops to house-made charcuterie, sausages, carpaccio and burgers. A carnivore's dream really.

I immediately felt like I walked into a cowboy movie when I stepped into Cowbell. The rustic chandelier, wall scones, the benches with rich red accents and the soft yellow/golden lighting all ties together for a very western decor.

About Me

"Junkie" is a term most often used to describe a narcotics addict. My name is Stella and I am a food addict: a "Food Junkie" with an insatiable interest and devotion to food. This six letter word fully captures the intensity & the degree of my love for food. I can honestly say I think about food 24 hours a day, 7 days a week :) I love to eat it, make it, read about it, talk about it, take pictures of it, look at pictures of it (you get the point). I hope to share my experiences with food on this blog, whether it be my dining out restaurant experiences in Toronto or abroad, or just my random thoughts about food in general.
Feel free to email me at foodjunkiechronicles@gmail.com